EBizInsider

When Google launched Google Apps in August 2006, it was a revolutionary solution for small business. Apps ties together document management, calendaring and e-mail powered by Google’s powerful Gmail system, yet the information Google provides is fairly sparse. Here’s how to integrate your Google Apps to improve productivity.

Choosing an Apps Package
Google offers standard and premium versions of their apps package. The premium version costs $50 per year per user and each user has 25Gb of storage (versus 6Gb). The package allows conference room and resource scheduling, dual delivery (in case you have another mail server), allows you to migrate your current e-mail into Gmail and connects your current enterprise network with Google Apps via a special API. You can also turn off the adwords showing up on your e-mail accounts if you use the premium version. If you’re currently using standard Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, etc. and have only a few users on your account, start with the standard package and upgrade later.

Domain Integration
Integrating your Google Apps into your domain is simple. Create a CNAME record in your domain or upload a text file to the root of your domain. For website operators who don’t have access to upload files to their root directory (such as on the Yahoo! Store platform), use the control panel’s advanced settings on the site’s domain. This stops unscrupulous competitors from sending e-mail on your behalf.

Account Setup and E-mail
First, set up an administrator account (like admin@ystore.com). Use this to create other accounts and/or designate other administrators. Set up accounts for each e-mail user and also set up e-mail aliases and lists.

Use an alias if the same user may receive several different e-mails. If Joe is going to receive e-mail for sales and customer service then you might create an account for joe@ystore.com and add aliases for sales@ystore.com and service@ystore.com).

If you have an e-mail address where multiple people must receive messages, use lists. You can also have non-domain e-mails on each list. BE CAREFUL whom you put on lists, because messages sent to e-mail lists on your account are not moderated. I wouldn’t, for example, create a list for dropshippers@ystore.com. If spammers learn that, you’ll be responsible for all your drop shippers getting spam. Not good. (FYI: The “premium” edition integrates Postini’s customizable junk mail filtering system.)

Google Documents Feature
Google Apps integrates Google Docs pretty flawlessly. You can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations and share them within your domain and outside. You also can create files in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Powerpoint and easily convert them to share on Docs. You can set files to be read-only or changeable by other users. Docs will create a changelog, so you can go back in time and show revisions by others. Great for collaboration.

Google Calendar
Google Apps Calendaring feature allows you to manage your time online, as well as coordinate meetings and events with team members. You can schedule a meeting and see the availability of others. Calendar will also notify you of upcoming appointments by sending reminders to your mobile phone via SMS/Text Message.

Integrating with Software
E-mail: Google Apps e-mail incorporates with most e-mail programs (like Outlook and Thunderbird) via an IMAP or a POP3 connection.
Docs: With Google Docs, it is not directly possible to sync, but DocSyncer (https://www.docsyncer.com/) will do that job nicely. It’s free (for now).
Calendar: With Google Calendar, you can use GSyncIt (http://www.daveswebsite.com/software/gsync/) to connect your Outlook and Google Calendar. You can also use gCalSync (http://www.gcalsync.com/) to sync your PDA/Mobile phone’s calendar.

Summing Up
Google Apps may or may not be for you. If you are using a large enterprise network, the seamless integration of servers for e-mail, documents, and scheduling may be better. However, it will cost you a couple thousand dollars to install and maintain and be limited to your network. It will also take maintenance time and requires intermediate server administration skills. Google Apps takes a bit of getting used to and doesn’t have as many bells and whistles, but the price is extremely competitive.

Google Apps can be accessed using almost any Internet-enabled computer, using any modern operating system, anywhere, including many web-enabled PDAs.

---

By: John W. Dawe johnd@ebizinsider.com

Name (required)

E-Mail (required)

(Will not be published)

Website

Comments

Security Code

Enter the code above into this box. There's no letters, only numbers. We just want to make sure you're human.